Courtney Frerichs Uncensored: Frerichs tells Letsrun why she's left the Bowerman Track Club

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I kept waiting for the big question...not surprised it never came.

Nice to see something that isn't rumor or speculation. Props to Gault for delivering

I thought it was a really great interview, and I appreciate her candor. That said, she made a comment somewhere about not being sure about what caused the Bowerman women's team to change so much since their "glory years" (my term, not hers). I mean, come on.... I wonder if it was a precondition to her interview to not bring up that topic, or maybe Gault just didn't want to bother going there.

It wasn't the time or the place. I know that many of you want that question to be asked, but that's better asked of Jerry or Shelby herself. Gault did his job and did it well on this piece.

Fantastic interview. No reason to bring up Shelby at this point and she was very candid with every single question.

I want to know why Jerry changed their training schedule away from 7 days to more workout frequency. And what are the new changes that she alluded to?

Greater workout frequency/fewer recovery days may also explain why Elise started struggling from REDS again this Spring.

No. JG did exactly the opposite of asking the tough questions which was allegedly letsrun's motto in the past.

Courtney was surprisingly open, it was an enjoyable read.

Hopefully the future of the sport has more athletes choosing their best situation, rather than athletes being treated as slaves by Coaches and Managers with relationships with brands.

Excellent interview thank you

What question?

I think there is always a tendency to do a bit more to try and get better.And it easy to go over the line…

The exact details would be fascinating but jerry is one of the guys who never seems to share a ton.

She left because Puma gave her husband a job.
She transferred in College because New Mexico gave her College Coach a job.

This paints a HORRIBLE picture of Jerry.

Courtney tried really hard to not say bad things, and was very respectful, but it's clear Jerry really screwed everything up.

It's interested that the switch to MORE frequent workouts came right after Shelby got busted. Apparently he was looking for an extra (legal) edge after not being able to pump his athletes full of nandralone.

Any pro who reads this is not going to want Jerry as their coach.

Don't be silly. That d-bag suckup The Running Affect high school kid could have done this interview. Honestly, nobody really cares about the last ones out of the building. Those who stuck around after the corpse was rotten just lacked courage.

Thanks Jon for providing this great interview to read! I enjoyed it and rooting for Courtney’s comeback.

I assume that before the interview started, she told Jon didn’t want to talk about Houlihan.

Jerry has ruined Bowerman & the Oregon track and field TEAM. The sprints, jumps & throws no longer are giving full rides to any athletes...That was a key to the Ducks domination.

Courtney's mention of the training changes:

I found that, particularly in the winter months and in spring, he really changed the frequency of intensity of workouts. My first few years, we were on a more traditional seven-day cycle, the classic Tuesday-Friday [workouts], Sunday long run. . . [In recent years], we moved into some different training cycles that involved maybe fewer rest days between workouts.

Regarding Elise . . . yes, most likely . . . especially since Elise mentioned last year that her autumn 2022 training was great, she nailed every workout including gym sessions . . . then had the bad Feb 2023 Millrose 3k race followed by a DNS a month later at The TEN . . . implying that something went wrong with her at BTC's Flagstaff winter training camp last Jan - Feb.

The training changes topic was the "Big Reveal" of this excellent, deep-dive interview . . . as outsiders looking in, well all know that the move to Eugene was not well received by most and contributed to many leaving (including Pascal) . . . as did Jerry & Shalane's split attentions between UO & BTC . . . but Jerry "compressing" the training schedule was something that none of us fans knew about until now.

This reveal adds context to Woody Kincaid's departure back in fall 2022 . . . he loved BTC when he joined out of college as a 23-year-old . . . but mentioned in his LRC podcast interview last year that he felt the training wasn't the best for a now-30 runner who needed more rest between hard sessions.

Note, however, that Courtney mentioned many BTC athletes liked the training changes . . . Charles Hicks has nothing but high praise per his IG posts . . . and Mo Ahmed just was interviewed prior to his race at the upcoming Houston Half Marathon and stated he's coming off a great fall of training . . . and BTC's recent IG posts have included very positive comments regarding Sean McGorty as well.

So, as fans, Courtney & Jonathan have filled us in on everything else going on at BTC but didn't know to ask . . . all's that left is to see how the new, streamlined BTC performs this year.

Now, if JG or someone can do a similar in-depth interview with Grant Fisher, all our new-year's wishes will be fulfilled . . .